Future-proofing

Among the items on his agenda: interest-free retrofit loans for low income households, high speed rail between Windsor and Quebec City, east-west power transmission, retro-fitting federal buildings, investments in clean energy technologies, the elimination of subsidies for the oil and gas sector, the elimination of subsidies for the nuclear industry, stopping the export of raw bitumen, pricing carbon through cap-and-trade and appointing a Minister of Energy Security.

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Future-proofing

“As leader of Canada’s New Democrats, a key priority for Nathan will be helping Canada prosper from newer, cleaner technologies. While our economy is currently over-reliant on fossil fuels, this will, and must change, within the lifetime of our children, our homes, businesses and transport will be powered differently.”

Virginia Postrel ~ Search For Tomorrow:

Stasist social criticism—which is to say essentially all current social criticism—brings up the specifics of life only to sneer at or bash them. Critics assume that readers will share their attitudes and will see contemporary life as a problem demanding immediate action by the powerful and wise. This relentlessly hostile view of how we live, and how we may come to live, is distorted and dangerous.

It overvalues the tastes of an articulate elite, compares the real world of trade-offs to fantasies of utopia, omits important details and connections, and confuses temporary growing pains with permanent catastrophes. It demoralizes and devalues the creative minds on whom our future depends. And it encourages the coercive use of political power to wipe out choice, forbid experimentation, short circuit feedback, and trammel progress.

short
shut down the oilsands by banning the transportation and export of bitumen,
remove subsidies from and and ALL energy industries that are not wind, solar or hydro power,
build billions in infrastructure to make Quebec hydro the only energy source allowed…carbon taxes here we come

“New thinking is needed, which recognizes that for decades, Canada has failed to honour our international obligations to fight climate change.”

Does Cullen have an explanation on how he plans to fight climate change when Mother Nature changes climate every day? Does Cullen think he’s cleverer than Gaia?

Science Magazine:
Assessing impacts of future anthropogenic carbon emissions is currently impeded by uncertainties in our knowledge of equilibrium climate sensitivity to atmospheric carbon dioxide doubling. Previous studies suggest 3 K as best estimate, 2 to 4.5 K as the 66% probability range, and nonzero probabilities for much higher values, the latter implying a small but significant chance of high-impact climate changes that would be difficult to avoid. Here, combining extensive sea and land surface temperature reconstructions from the Last Glacial Maximum with climate model simulations, we estimate a lower median (2.3 K) and reduced uncertainty (1.7 to 2.6 K 66% probability). Assuming paleoclimatic constraints apply to the future as predicted by our model, these results imply lower probability of imminent extreme climatic change than previously thought.http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2011/11/22/science.1203513

FinPost:
Then this fall, Canadian investigative journalist Donna Laframboise released her book The Delinquent Teenager Who Was Mistaken for the World’s Top Climate Expert, a superb exposé of the IPCC that shows convincingly that the IPCC has evolved into an activist organization bearing little resemblance to the picture of scientific probity painted by its promoters and activist allies.http://opinion.financialpost.com/2011/11/22/fix-it-or-fold-it/

“DAWSON CREEK, B.C. – Prime Minister Stephen Harper was reminded of the criticism of his government’s environmental track record as he opened an ultra-energy saving building at a northern B.C. college on Saturday.

He presided over the officially opening of the new facility at North Lights College that will allow students to conduct research and prepare for careers in the alternative energy sector.

The Centre of Excellence for Clean Energy Technology comes with an nearly $8-million pricetag paid for by the federal and B.C. governments.

The facility produces all its own energy needs through wind turbine, solar panels, biomass and geo-exchange systems and will accommodate nearly 200 students.

The federal and B.C. governments also joined private sector partners to foot the $2.5 million bill to refurbish the college’s Health Sciences Building.”

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